Trade union bruiser and a master of the backroom deal, Labour deputy Tom Watson is also a formidable campaigner.

Not that Comrade Corbyn, his leader, seems to know or care. In a five-page interview in GQ magazine, Watson admits that he has been totally marginalised by the man who sits next to him on the Opposition front bench.

Insisting that Labour can still win a General Election, Watson added: ‘Some of our best people are not on the front bench, but they are contributing to the debate, too.’ Campbell: ‘Does he want them all to be involved?’ Watson: ‘I don’t know who he has offered jobs to.’

Asked why two obscure MPs were knighted in the New Year Honours, and he was overlooked, Ukip’s Nigel Farage replied breezily: ‘The Establishment hate me and will never forgive me for Brexit.’

Asked why two obscure MPs were knighted in the New Year Honours, and he was overlooked, Ukip’s Nigel Farage replied breezily: ‘The Establishment hate me and will never forgive me for Brexit'

Establishment lackey Simon Walker, former head of the Institute Of Directors and an ardent Remainer, was made a CBE while there was nothing for any of the Brexiteers in the New Year Honours.

Support is disintegrating for former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who was suspended from Labour in April over allegedly anti-Semitic remarks.

Jon Lansman, founder of the Momentum grassroots group backing Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, told Jewish News — the UK’s most popular Jewish newspaper — there should be a resolution to the inquiry into whether Livingstone can return.

He said: ‘I don’t see why it’s taking so long,’ adding that he ‘trusts’ the final judgment will end Livingstone’s often controversial political career.

Support is disintegrating for former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who was suspended from Labour in April over allegedly anti-Semitic remarks

Stony silence from Labour over the New Year train strikes. Now Unite, Britain’s biggest union, may trigger action at Penguin Random House, the UK’s biggest publishers.

What will company chair Baroness Rebuck make of it? Not only is she a Labour peer, but her late husband, Philip Gould, was an architect of New Labour along with Tony Blair, whose memoirs were published by Rebuck.

Meanwhile, there’s a New Year message from ASLEF leader Mick Whelan, who says: ‘It’s the time of year when we traditionally take stock. When we reflect on where we’ve been, where we are and where we want to go.’

In the case of 300,000 long-suffering commuters on Southern Rail, that’s precisely nowhere because of Whelan’s vindictive strikes in the winter holiday season.

Redwood has a pipe dream

Wise words from the Conservative MP John Redwood in his New Year blog . . .

‘One of the most mad things in the UK public sector is the continued placing of pipes and cables under main roads, often under the middle of the road,’ he writes.

‘Every time a repair or replacement is needed, the road has to be dug up. It either has to be closed completely, or a lane taken out to do the work.

‘Pipes and cables can be placed in conduits or larger pipes which can then be placed under pavements or verges, away from the main carriageway.

‘This should be mandatory for all new housing estates, commercial developments and roads being installed.’